Lakeland Holds Off Red Devils, 26-17
PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Eureka football team fell short on the road at Lakeland on Saturday, 26-17.
The Red Devils came within three points early in the fourth quarter, but it didn't come together down the stretch.
Eureka running back Ben Bernabei (Peru, Ill./St. Bede Academy) rushed for a team-high 125 yards on 23 and scored the team's only offensive touchdown on a one-yard run early in the second quarter to put the Red Devils on the board.
Receiver Sebastian Hill (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) tallied 97 receiving yards on four catches. Senior Pierce Bradford (Decatur, Ill./Argenta-Oreana) posted 43 yards on two catches, and freshman Jack Butler (Tinley Park, Ill./Tinley Park) had 35 on three.
Quarterback Lukas Tinkham (Abingdon, Ill./Abingdon-Avon) threw for 192 yards on 10-of-36 passing and was picked off three times.
Defensively, Brendan Durr (Washington, Ill./Washington) racked up a team-high nine total tackles, including seven solo efforts. Austin Hopkins (Arcola, Ill./Arcola) contributed eight total tackles and had the team's lone interception on the day.
Niyonkurur Rodrique (Fort Worth, Texas/Paschal) added seven tackles, including 2 1/2 for loss, and Stefon Humphrey (O'Fallon, Mo./O'Fallon), Ben Wright (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) and Donovan Hathaway (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) all had six total tackles. Humphrey had one of the team's three sacks on the day.
The Muskies jumped out to a 20-lead. Eureka got on the board with Bernabei's touchdown early in the second quarter to cap a four-play 71-yard drive. It included a 34-yard run by Garcia and a 32-yard reception by Bradford.
A 27-yard field goal by Steven Bartkus (Seneca, Ill./Seneca) made it 20-10 near the end of the first half.
After a scoreless third quarter, Eureka made things interesting when Jack Arnett (Princeville, Ill./Princeville) forced and recovered a fumble and ran it in for a touchdown to make it 20-17 with 11:45 remaining.
The Red Devils defense stopped Lakeland on the next three drives, but the offense wasn't able to capitalize on the other side of the ball. Then, with Eureka driving for the go-ahead score with 17 seconds left, Tinkham was intercepted by Jayson Wilder, who ran it back to make it 26-17.
Next week, Eureka (2-7, 2-5 NACC) will look to end the 2022 season on a strong note at St. Norbert (5-3, 4-2 NACC) on Saturday at 12 p.m.